WCHA race tight -- but Gophers watching from seventh place

A look at the weekend that was, from the WCHA. I slightly edited the release and added my own comments.

LOGJAM AT TOP

There is a three-way tie for first place in the WCHA standings and just two points and one victory separate the top five teams.

Sharing the top spot this week with 13 points apiece are Colorado College (9-2-1, 6-1-1 WCHA), pre-season favorite Denver (8-3-1, 6-1-1) and defending WCHA Final Five champion Minnesota Duluth (9-4-1, 6-3-1 WCHA).

Defending MacNaughton Cup champion North Dakota (7-4-1, 5-4-1) and Wisconsin (7-4-1, 5-4-1) are deadlocked in fourth with 11 points each.

(The Gophers have played four of those teams -- they player CC later at home -- and have managed only three points from those eight games. They tied with NoDak 3-3 early and beat Wisconsin 5-2. So the U has had a tough early schedule.)

St. Cloud State (5-5-2, 4-3-1 WCHA) is sixth with nine points, Minnesota (4-7-1, 3-6-1) is seventh with seven points.

They play at Michigan and Michigan State in the College Hockey Showcase this weekend and then have two important WCHA series with Minnesota State on Dec. 4-5, that's home and home, and at Michigan Tech on Dec. 11-12.

The U could get buried in the second division unless it gets at least two, three wins in those four games against the bottom teams. After playing Tech, the Gophers will be halfway through the WCHA season.)

Alaska Anchorage (5-9-0, 3-7-0) is up to eighth with six points, Minnesota State (4-7-1, 2-7-1) is ninth with five points and Michigan Tech (3-7-0, 2-6-0), idle this weekend, is 10th with four points.

There are four WCHA series scheduled Thanksgiving weekend.

* Alaska Anchorage at Colorado College ... CC is surprise team in league, Tigers lost a lot of talent and were picked to finish seventh

* Michigan Tech at Minnesota State ... Gophers next two WCHA opponents. U coaches will watch this series closely

In nonconferences games:

* North Dakota will host Bemidji State along with Miami and Ohio State of the CCHA in the Subway Holiday Classic in Grand Forks

* Minnesota and Wisconsin will take turns facing CCHA-members Michigan and Michigan State on the road in the College Hockey Showcase.

Saturday's results:

(Wehrs' goal came on a power play. U's power play looked better than it has all season. The Bulldogs noticed that and the second most penalized team in Division I hockey -- averaging 22 penalty minutes per game -- did not take a penalty the last two periods.)

* At Sullivan Arena, host Alaska Anchorage left winger Tommy Grant (2g, 1a) and right winger Kevin Clark (1g, 1a) led the way with multiple-point games as the Seawolves captured a 4-1 win over Minnesota State, Mankato for a series split before 3,232.

Grant's goal at 1:25 of the second period proved to be the game-winner while in nets, Bryce Christianson had 21 saves. For the Mavericks, center Zach Harrison notched a second period power-play goal while Kevin Murdock had 21 saves in goal.

* At Magness Arena in the Mile High City, a sellout crowd of 6,030 saw host Denver complete a sweep of North Dakota with a 3-2 victory as the Pioneers came back from a 2-0 second period deficit.

Leading the way for DU offensively were linemates Joe Colborne (2g, 1a) and Kyle Ostrow (1g, 1a). Ostrow's power-play goal at 8:33 of period two was the game-winner. Marc Cheverie had 24 stops for DU. For the Sioux, forwards Danny Kristo and Chris VandeVelde notched first period power-play goals to give their team a 2-0 advantage. Sioux goalie Brad Eidsness had 29 stops.

For UW, defenseman Brendan Smith (1g, 1a) and center Aaron Bendickson (2a) had multiple-point games while in goal Scott Gudmandson had 18 saves. For SCSU, left winger David Eddy scored in the first period and goaltender Dan Dunn turned aside 29 shots

* At the World Arena in Colorado Springs, CC completed a nonconference sweep of Robert Morris with a 4-1 verdict. Colorado College was led by left winger Bill Sweatt (2g, 1a) and right winger Andrew Hamburg (1g, 2a), with Sweatt notching the winner at 13:58 of the opening period.

Results Friday

Minnesota State 8. at Alaska Anchorage 2

Minnesota Duluth 4 at Minnesota 3 ot

Wisconsin 1 at St. Cloud State 4

Robert Morris 3 at Colorado College 4 (nc)

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Results Saturday

Minnesota State 1 at Alaska Anchorage 4

Minnesota Duluth 3 at Minnesota 2

Wisconsin 4 at St. Cloud State 1

Robert Morris 1 at Colorado College 4 (nc).


Next weekend

Games Friday
Alaska Anchorage at Colorado College
St. Cloud State at Denver
Michigan Tech at Minnesota State (WCHA)
Wisconsin at Michigan State
Minnesota at Michigan (nc), 6:35 pm
Ohio State at North Dakota (nc)